The present invention relates to a device for cutting fabric made partially or wholly of man made fibres such as polyester or nylon and sealing the resulting cut edge in good appearance and consistent thickness.
In the textile field natural fibres such as cotton and wool are interwoven with man-made fibres such as polyester and nylon. Sometimes man-made fibres are used exclusively in forming the fabric. In either case as the fabric is being woven on looms it is desirable to trim and seal the edges to prevent raveling and to provide a strong selvedge for subsequent operations in the manufacture of the fabric. In some cases one or more cuts may be made down the length of the fabric as it is being woven and it is useful to seal both of the edges of each cut.
Several methods of accomplishing these objectives are in use; one, the hot-wire method, cuts the fabric with a heated fine-wire, forming a bead on the edges as the melting progresses. Another method is to tuck the edge and weave it again to the main body of the fabric. A further method is to impact the material with an ultrasonically vibrating tool.
Each method has disadvantages. The hot-wire method forms an undesirably thick bead on the edge and results in a crude visual finish. The "tucker" gives a better appearance, but substantially increases the thickness of the fabric at the edge, so that when great lengths of the fabric are reeled up the resulting roll which should be cylindrical is instead "canoe-shaped". The ultrasonic method requires equipment that is inherently expensive.
A need exists for a device which can inexpensively produce a high-quality cut and sealed edge as fabric is being woven on a loom.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a device for cutting and sealing a fabric with a resulting edge seal of good appearance and of a consistent thickness little more than the thickness of the fabric.
Another object of the invention is to provide an improved device having a heated cutting device to sever fabric by a cutting-melting operation.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a heated cutting tool to sever fabric and control the thickness and shape of the severed fabric edge.
These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description thereof taken with the drawings.